Chapter 194 Ember
Seeing Jiang Ranxing in her wedding dress, Fu Shenyuan couldn't help but think of how Jiang Ranxing looked in her wedding dress when they got married.
But in reality, Fu Shenyuan didn't remember anything, because only Jiang Ranxing attended their grand wedding; he didn't participate at all.
All his imagination was limited to what he saw before him now: Jiang Ranxing standing next to Wen Qingrang.
What he didn't cherish before, now belongs to another man.
The feeling of having something you should have had but didn't is the most excruciating and painful.
The person standing next to Jiang Ranxing should have been his.
What exactly did he do to push Jiang Ranxing so far away?
Fu Shenyuan didn't even dare to think about these things in detail; every time he did, he felt an unbearable sense of oppression.
On stage, all the lights were adjusted and focused on the left and right sides, shining on Jiang Ranxing and Lin Xuesha.
The host in the audience was going through the motions as usual.
"Next, please choose the one you like. The designer you choose will become your wedding dress designer for this wedding."
The media's cameras and lenses were all focused on the stage, instantly creating a tense and serious atmosphere.
Lin Xuesha glanced at Jiang Ranxing's wedding dress, which looked quite ordinary, and secretly chuckled before looking at the assistant next to the bride-to-be.
The assistant received a glance and noticed that the bride-to-be actually preferred Jiang Ranxing's wedding dress, so she whispered a reminder to her.
“Miss, if you like that dress, I can have the designer design other dresses for you. But for a wedding, you need to consider the status of both families, so you can’t dress so simply. In this regard, I think the one on the right is more in line with your status, and it will also prevent your family from blaming you.”
The bride-to-be looked troubled. She really liked Jiang Ranxing's design, but these worldly things bound her, and she couldn't make her own choice freely.
To put it bluntly, she was pressured to choose a gorgeous wedding dress that matched her status, so as not to bring shame to her family and husband's family.
The bride-to-be sighed, raised her arm, and was about to point towards Lin Xuesha.
Seeing the situation tilting in her favor, Lin Xuesha felt even more smug and gave Jiang Ranxing a triumphant smile.
"Wait a minute!" Jiang Ranxing suddenly spoke at this moment, and everyone's movements stopped instantly.
Lin Xuesha looked at Jiang Ranxing in shock, wondering what she was planning to do.
Jiang Ranxing simply ignored Lin Xuesha and smiled at the bride-to-be, saying in English, "Wait a moment, my work presentation is not over yet, don't rush to make a decision."
Everyone looked at Jiang Ranxing with some confusion, and waited for her next move.
Fu Shenyuan, sitting in the audience, kept his eyes fixed on Jiang Ranxing.
Jiang Ranxing looked at Wen Qingrang and asked, "Did you bring the things I asked you to prepare for me?"
Wen Qingrang nodded, but still asked, "Do we really have to do this?"
"Trust me." Jiang Ranxing nodded.
Wen Qingrang took out a small square metal object from the pocket of his suit trousers.
The audience exclaimed in surprise, "Is that... a lighter?!"
After Wen Qingrang took out this item, everyone was even more confused.
Wen Qingrang said to the stage manager, "Please turn off the lights on our side."
Upon hearing this and receiving confirmation, the site manager abruptly switched off the lights on Jiang Ranxing's side.
Instantly, Jiang Ranxing and Wen Qingrang were enveloped in a dim black mist. They exchanged a glance and nodded. Wen Qingrang half-squatted down, opened the lighter, and a flame instantly ignited—
"Ah!!! What is he doing?!"
"He's setting the hem of that wedding dress on fire! Is this really okay? Could it cause an accident?!"
In an instant, chaos erupted inside the venue. Fu Shenyuan could no longer sit still upon seeing this; he was terrified, fearing that Jiang Ranxing would be harmed as a result.
But a few seconds later, Fu Shenyuan abruptly stopped in his tracks, and a different kind of light flashed in his eyes.
Following the gaze toward the stage, the hem of the skirt that had just been engulfed in flames did not burn to ashes as people usually expect.
A bright, sparkling ray, like a star trail, began at the hem of the skirt, like a shooting star landing at the bottom corner, swirling and circling upwards.
Jiang Ranxing raised her arms like a swan in flight, her feet slowly turning, causing the entire wedding dress to swirl. The shooting star seemed to dance in the night sky, sliding along with Jiang Ranxing's movements, resembling a dark galaxy fallen to earth, so dreamlike and dazzling that it was impossible to look away.
Everyone in the audience was shocked; they had never seen anything like it before and were full of praise.
"What kind of technology is this? The flames didn't burn the fabric, but instead turned it into such a beautiful decoration. It's truly amazing!"
"Yes, I've never seen anything like it before. What kind of fabric did the designer use to achieve this effect? I couldn't tell at all before!"
"Wait a minute, if I remember correctly, didn't a designer come up with a similar design idea, but that designer never actually produced the finished product? I didn't expect this young designer to actually make it?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I remember it too. Wasn't it about six or seven years ago when a Chinese designer came up with this idea? I heard that designer was incredibly talented and was quite the sensation back then, but I don't think we heard anything from him after that?"
"Hey? Isn't that Ember? I think it's him! I remember his name was mentioned today, but I didn't see any of his work! Could it have been plagiarized by the designer on stage?"
"No way, plagiarism is a huge deal in the design world. Designer Jiang Ranxing wouldn't do that openly, would he? Wouldn't that close his own design career?"
The media in the audience were buzzing with discussion, and the bride-to-be and those on stage overheard these words.
However, no one was in the mood to care about these things for the time being; everyone's attention was still focused on Jiang Ranxing.
As the star trail flames burned to their last, the entire dress instantly lost its light and plunged into darkness. Suddenly, within two seconds, the dress slowly lit up with starlight. The starlight grew more and more numerous and dazzling, with each glittering point of light adorning the hem. Gradually, the entire wedding dress's skirt resembled the most dazzling and tranquil galaxy in the universe, emitting the most radiant light.
The audience was captivated by the breathtaking starry sky, as if they had been drawn into the most beautiful realm in the universe.
Snap—
Jiang Ranxing snapped his fingers, and the lights slowly came on again. When everyone saw the starry wedding dress in front of them, their expressions were filled with shock.
If the pure white satin wedding dress that looked so elegant and ethereal was truly sacred, then the dress in front of us has changed to a different color, a flowing, dreamlike wedding dress that is truly stunning!
In comparison, while both wedding dresses used sparkling elements, Lin Xuesha's unremarkable and ordinary rhinestone wedding dress was bound to fall short of Jiang Ranxing's dynamic and sparkling wedding dress, which seemed to be made of starlight.
The outcome of this choice is obvious; even without saying it, everyone already knows who won and who lost.
Lin Xuesha knew she had lost, and of course she was furious.
She could accept losing to Jiang Ranxing at school, but how could she lose to this bitch who had always been belittling her in a situation like this?
Seeing that the noble lady personally go on stage and choose Jiang Ranxing, Lin Xuesha was filled with even more anger.
The bride-to-be took Jiang Ranxing's hand, smiled and nodded at her. Jiang Ranxing whispered a thank you in the local language, which she had only recently learned and was not yet fluent in.
The host took the stage and announced: "Let's congratulate designer Jiang Ranxing on becoming this year's exclusive designer. Next..."
But before the host could finish speaking, Lin Xuesha snatched the microphone away. She turned to Jiang Ranxing and shouted with a sneer, "An exclusive designer should not be someone who plagiarizes! How dare designer Jiang Ranxing accept this honor!"
Jiang Ranxing nodded politely to the bride-to-be, then released her hand, turned to Lin Xuesha, and walked up to her, looking down at her.
"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Designer Lin Xuesha, what is your reason for slandering me in public? Is it just because you can't accept defeat and are therefore angry and embarrassed?"
Jiang Ranxing asked her with a faint smile, his tone very calm, but it was full of disdain.
Lin Xuesha was naturally embarrassed, but when she saw Jiang Ranxing, she was so angry that her teeth itched.
But remembering what people in the audience had been discussing earlier, a cruel smile crept onto her face.
"How could I be making this up, Jiang Ranxing, the designer? You're a newly signed junior designer at SR, right? And if I remember correctly, there's also that famous designer Ember, right?"
Jiang Ranxing confidently raised his head and provocatively said, "Seven years ago, before Ember retired from the design industry, he proposed a design concept, which was the unique 'starlight fabric'. However, before he could create it and announce the design to the public, he had already announced his retirement."
After Lin Xuesha finished speaking, she paused for a moment, waiting for countless flashes of light to hit them again. Her desire to completely destroy Jiang Ranxing's design career grew stronger.
Lin Xuesha gave Jiang Ranxing an extremely provocative and amused look.
She continued, "Now that this design concept has appeared in your work, how do you explain that? Did Ember give you her exclusive design concept from many years ago for free? Or did you steal Ember's inspiration?"
The audience immediately began to discuss the matter.
“I remember now, it was Ember! He came up with this idea, which caused a sensation in the design world at the time. People said it would be very difficult to realize such an idea, and with the technology at the time, not many designers could do it! I remember that designer Zhou Yinxiu tried it but failed, right?”
“I also heard that Ember actually finished making it, but for some reason, they stopped. Could it really be that Jiang Ranxing stole Ember’s exclusive fabric? Yeah, they’re all at SR now, maybe they stole it from me in secret?”
"You never know. Some designers have plagiarized or stolen inspiration in their pursuit of fame, and Ken is no exception!"
Listening to these discussions, Lin Xuesha looked at Jiang Ranxing again: "I hope that designer Jiang Ranxing can give an explanation. Otherwise, we will really have to ask the International Designers Association to judge this matter. You also have to consider your own design career and give a proper explanation."
Lin Xuesha looked at Jiang Ranxing smugly, already waiting to see Jiang Ranxing's embarrassing situation.
However, Jiang Ranxing showed no sign of panic. She simply raised an eyebrow and said casually, "Then you can contact Ember and ask her yourselves."
Lin Xuesha narrowed her eyes: "Aren't you afraid of being embarrassed after you're exposed? Where do you get the nerve?"
Jiang Ranxing simply chuckled lightly and said, "Suit yourself, I'll be waiting."
Seeing her like this, Lin Xuesha's anger flared even more, so she said to the organizer, "I request that we contact designer Ember now. We should have left our contact information when we were invited. We can ask Ember to come over and confront her on the spot, and then we'll know who is plagiarizing and acting like a clown!"
Seeing that they had no choice but to take this step, the organizers immediately sent someone to retrieve the contact information left by Ember.
An awkward few minutes of silence fell over the stage.
The bride-to-be looked at Jiang Ranxing, feeling unsure of what to do. She asked in a low voice if there really was any plagiarism or other special issues. This was a great disgrace for noble families like theirs, and she was afraid of being scolded by others in the family because of it.
Jiang Ranxing simply replied, "Don't worry, Miss, I won't let you regret your choice."
Jiang Ranxing's confident attitude gave the bride-to-be a lot of confidence, and she returned to her seat to wait.
Ten minutes later, the organizers handed a brochure to the host on stage.
The host took the phone and saw a local phone number on it. While he hesitated about whether to dial it, Lin Xuesha had already seen the number and dialed it first.
The entire venue fell silent instantly as everyone waited for Ember to answer the phone.
Those familiar with the design industry know that Ember has never revealed any information about herself to the outside world, to the point that no one even knows whether she is male or female, old or young.
If the call goes through, these media outlets will get another huge news story of the day: Ember's voice. Through the phone call, they will be able to basically confirm Ember's general appearance.
At that moment, everyone held their breath, waiting for the call to be officially dialed.
A melodious and romantic symphonic tune rang out from inside the venue.
Everyone was puzzled. Could it be that Ember was there watching? Everyone was searching for the source of the phone call.
Jiang Ranxing turned around and met Wen Qingrang's gaze. Both of them were familiar with the music, and they both smiled.
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